Aldrich Decennial Takes Stock of Contemporary Art in Connecticut

Next week, the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut will present the first Aldrich Decennial, an exhibition in the style of other recurring surveys meant to occur every 10 years. Aldrich has long been celebrated for its taste in the avant garde, giving many important artists the opportunity to play big shows, and the first Decennial wants to do this on a wider scale. Titled “I am what surrounds me,” the show came out of 100 visits by studio executive director Amy Smith-Stewart and curator and publishing manager Caitlin Monachino. We caught up with Aldrich director Cybele Maylone to hear more about the exhibit, and how it fits into the institution’s broader programs and ethics.

We are used to institutions that organize themselves around two and three years. Does the ten-year framework allow you to see that the two- or three-year cycle does not?

The Aldrich Decennial is the brainchild of the Museum’s Diana Bowes Chief Curator Amy Smith-Stewart. Amy has worked in Greater New York during her time as a curator at MoMA PS1, so she really agrees with the idea of ​​an ongoing, place-based survey. Because of that, I think Amy knew when she conceived the show that a two- or three-year cycle wouldn’t make sense for a show like this, which explores a cultural community in a very small area and a place that doesn’t have the same kind of population change that a city does. Connecticut is a state of fixed trends, so choosing a 10-year cycle makes a lot of sense.

You’ve been in Aldrich long enough to leave your mark on it. How would you say it has changed a lot in the eight years you have been in charge?

We’ve really expanded the Museum community during my time, and that’s something I’m proud of. We have grown our Board of Trustees significantly and doubled our membership. It has been a real pleasure to see how much enthusiasm and support there is for the Museum from people of all walks of life, from collectors to young families in our community. In addition, we renovated our Sculpture Garden to create an inclusive and accessible space for art and the public, which opened at the end of 2024. That was a big project for everyone at the Museum, from our Board to our staff, and we created a free public space for art and nature for all our visitors.

The art world has spent years on a rewarding scale: large numbers of attendees, large-scale projects, great visibility around the world. What are the advantages of a small institution?

We are very lucky because being young is baked into Aldrich’s DNA. The original Museum building—now home to our offices—had small exhibits and the idea was that visitors could come to the Aldrich and have a deeply personal experience of the works of art. When our new building opened in 2004, home-sized galleries were key to the new design so that immersive experience remains central to seeing art at Aldrich. My oldest daughter went to Paris last summer and came back with the picture that I think everyone takes at the Louvre—50 people standing between her and the Mona Lisa. That’s not what Aldrich does.

Aldrich has maintained a reputation for exploration while also being institutionalized over the past decade, two things that don’t sit comfortably together. How did you maintain that balance?

Again, it goes back to that basic commitment. Although Aldrich was designed to create an intimate experience with works of art, it was also designed to take risks and give emerging and under-recognized artists valuable first-hand opportunities. I am always inspired by our founder Larry Aldrich’s vision to put a forward-thinking museum dedicated to contemporary art on Main Street in a small New England town. We have a history of exhibiting artists long before their work became widely known—Eva Hesse, Jeffrey Gibson, Elizabeth Peyton and Huma Bhabha all had early works presented at the Museum. That said, we certainly want our work to be noticed in the larger conversation, driven by the desire to build a wider audience, consideration and awareness of the artists in our program.

Many institutions talk about “community” in ways that may sound abstract and efficient. Aldrich is located in a small town so the community feels very close. What can you tell me about that community and how it has evolved over the last 8 years?

The town of Ridgefield is central to who Aldrich is. I go back to Lonnie Bunch, Secretary of the Smithsonian, who said that museums should not be public institutions but public institutions. Sure, there are things we can do that 100 percent of the people in town don’t like (free ice cream!) but we’re committed to our mission of taking risks while taking the necessary steps to make our community feel welcome. Our Sculpture Garden project is driven by this in many ways—it was an act and an invitation to our local audience to engage with us and I think it had the desired effect. Besides, this is a small town and I live here. I have worked in institutions in New York City where part of the audience is international tourists. Not so at Aldrich! Our audience includes my child’s teacher and they will tell me what they think of the new statue we put up on Main Street.

In addition, Ridgefield, and Connecticut as a whole, changed significantly during and after the epidemic with a large influx of new residents. This is something Amy really understood when she became pregnant with Decennial. New energy in the state will be on display and is definitely part of The Aldrich’s growth over the past few years.

You spent most of your career before Aldrich in New York City. What might surprise New Yorkers about Connecticut’s art scene?

That it exists! I grew up outside of Chicago in Evanston, IL and lived in New York City for many years—Connecticut was not a place I knew well. So it was amazing to learn about the empire and understand not only how rich the artist community is now, but how important it has been for centuries. While the Decennial will allow us to shed light on what the landscape looks like here today, we are also trying to place the exhibition in a larger context about the state over time. There is a long list of important artists who have called Connecticut home.

Aldrich is well known for giving artists their first institutional exhibitions. Do you ever feel the weight of that responsibility? You have the opportunity to change an artist’s career overnight.

Definitely. Artists trust the Museum more when we work together. I know Amy feels that responsibility deeply and cares deeply for the artists we work with, and that dedication is shared by everyone on our team. That said, I think we’re focused on supporting artists and encouraging them to take risks and try new things, instead of thinking about what the show will do for their “work”. We are truly honored when an artist commits to working with The Aldrich, and we want to do everything we can to make the experience engaging and meaningful.

Looking back, were there any decisions you made that felt small at the time but ended up forever shifting the direction of the museum?

Maybe decisions related to hiring? I’ve promoted some great people during my time at Aldrich and was fortunate enough to attract a colleague from the City to join our staff, but as new hires and people you already know move into new roles, it can feel like a roll of the dice and it’s hard to gauge how big their impact will be. Happily, these decisions have really paid off and the excellent team of people working together at The Aldrich has helped greatly in changing the Museum for the better.

What do you hope audiences will take away from Decennial?

As with all exhibitions at The Aldrich, I hope our audience will leave the Museum with a sense of discovery. Amy and Caitlin Monachino, who co-edits the Decennial with Amy, visited the studio more than 100 times while putting the show together. The ages of the participating artists range from 30-80 and a number are on display at the museum for the first time. In addition, they live and work in areas around the state and about a quarter were born outside the United States. So, in addition to discovering artists, I hope the program will expand our audience’s understanding of Connecticut as a place.

More in museums